That Joke We All Make At Restaurants

I’ve been thinking a lot about that joke we all make at restaurants. You know the one. We finish everything on our plate and then the server comes over and asks, “How was everything?” and we say, “Oh it was terrible, we really hated it” while smiling mischievously and gesturing towards the empty dish. I bet servers hear that joke all the time. Sure, it comes from a good place; it’s meant to involve the server in a conspiracy of sarcasm. But, really, maybe we should stop making that joke. Or if we do make that joke, maybe we should limit ourselves to once a year. That way servers don’t have to laugh insincerely and we don’t have to pretend that we disliked our dinner.